


Not My Soulmate

by Arthur Skye (Hazy_Skye)



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, it might be a lil choppy i apologize
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-07
Updated: 2017-08-07
Packaged: 2018-12-12 05:22:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11730360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hazy_Skye/pseuds/Arthur%20Skye
Summary: Barry has a hard time with Oliver being his soulmate. Oliver /is/ a billionaire playboy, after all.





	Not My Soulmate

Barry got his mark when he was eighteen. Most people either couldn’t wait until they got the name of their soulmate, or they dreaded the day they got it. The fates could be cruel when it came to deciding who a soul mate was. But seeing the name ‘Oliver Queen” scrawled across his left wrist in the man’s handwriting the morning of his birthday was the last thing he had expected. He had thought that it would be Iris’s name, he had always liked her even before Joe adopted him. But to be paired with a famous billionaire playboy that probably didn’t even care about who his soulmate was? It wasn’t the worst thing that could have happened to him, but it sucked. Barry decided that instead of contacting Oliver, he’d cover up his soul mark instead. It was probably better that way. Besides, Oliver should be with someone more like him instead of with someone like Barry.

 

Every day over the next two years Barry studied his soul mark while he went through college. He heard on the news that Oliver had gone missing in a storm and figured that was the end of it. Barry fidgeted with the watch he wore on his left wrist more, thinking maybe, by some weird chance Oliver would live through the boat sinking and they could finally meet. But as years went on, Oliver never showed up. Barry moved on with life, dated around, graduated college, got a job as a CSI with Joe at Central City Police Department. He was living a semi-normal life, knowing full well that Oliver would never return home and that he should move on to find someone that he could be happy with. But five years after Oliver disappeared, he returned home. He and Iris had been curled up on the couch together eating ice cream as they flipped through the channels to find something to watch when they stumbled across the news.

 

Oliver looked worn and weak, like he hadn’t actually eaten a proper meal in a long time. His eyes didn’t hold a spark anymore like they had in most pictures of him, and Barry had to wonder what had happened to him while he was gone? He looked, sounded, and held himself like he was a totally different person. Oliver even /looked/ like he was uncomfortable being in front of that crowd of people, something that was unusual for the billionaire.

 

“Barry?” Iris said softly as she placed a hand on Barry’s back. He jumped at the contact and breathed out a laugh as he shook his head.

 

“Damn Iris, you scared me,” He said as he leaned back against the couch. He avoided looking at her as she turned to look at him with a slight frown.

 

“You’re as white as a ghost,” she replied sullenly.

 

“Yeah, well…” Barry dragged his fingers through his hair and waved at the television screen. “Someone literally came back from the dead, that’s not something that’s common, right?”

 

“Is he…?”

 

“Iris…”

 

“Okay, I’ll drop it.”

 

Iris had always wanted to know who his soul mate was. Barry refused to budge, even after Iris told him her soul mate was Eddie Thawne. Eddie was a good guy, and after getting to know him more Barry really liked him. But Barry could never tell anyone who his soul mate was. Oliver never even bothered to reach out to him, so Barry figured he wasn’t interested. Besides, he had a bit of a problem with sleeping around.

 

It would be another year and a half before Barry finally got to meet Oliver. He looked better than he had over a year ago. He didn’t have a glint in his eyes still, but he looked healthy. Fit. More attractive in person than on a television screen. He almost felt bad about hijacking the crime scene, but god, this couldn’t just be a coincidence? His mother was murdered in such a weird way, he thought that maybe this could be a lead to figuring out what had happened. The spark looked like it had come back, if only a moment when Barry introduced himself to Oliver, but he just couldn’t force himself to actually do anything about it. He had work he had to do.

 

“You sound like you wanna date him.” Felicity laughed as they talked later, sitting down in the Arrow Cave.

 

“Well, yeah, he /is/ my soulmate,” Barry couldn't stop himself from saying it, and felt his cheeks heat up as Felicity grabbed his wrist and moved his watch out of the way to see Oliver’s name there, plain as day.

 

“Barry, you need to tell him,”

 

“And why should I? He could’ve contacted me whenever he wanted, and he didn’t”

 

“You could’ve done the same.”

 

The two of them stared at each other for a few moments before Barry relented and shook his head. Felicity was right. She was always right.

 

Later that night Barry stuck around the Arrow Cave, waiting for Oliver. Felicity had told him that he would be around, he usually came back when no one else was there to practice his strength and fighting abilities. Of course, the Arrow was surprised upon finding Barry being there, and stopped in his tracks.

 

“Barry…” He said slowly as he approached the other man.

 

“Oliver.” Barry replied, watching as Oliver approached him. His heart beat quickly in his chest “We should talk. Because there’s a lot I need to get off my chest,” he paused, waited for Oliver to say something. The archer simply nodded before Barry continued on “Why did you never reach out? The least you could have done was pretend like you cared about having a soul mate. I just wanted to know if you cared, and then you disappeared. I tried to carry on a normal life, but it was so hard, and then you came back and you /still/ never tried to contact me. Why? Why, Oliver?”

 

There was a long moment of silence that passed between them. Oliver looked away and licked his lips as he crossed his arms over his chest. “I was a stupid kid that didn’t care. I thought that the whole thing was stupid. Plus, you’re four years younger than I am, I didn’t think that was the coolest thing ever. My five years being gone though, not a day passed where I didn’t think of you. You were constantly on my mind, even though I didn’t know what you looked like or sounded like. When I came back… I… I thought it was best to keep distance between us because I was too damaged. I didn’t think I deserved to be happy, so I kept you at a distance. I still never wanted to know anything about you because I knew I would make some bad decisions. So when you walked in the crime scene, it was almost like a nightmare, if I’m going to be honest. You were finally in my life, and I knew I was never going to be able to keep you at a distance anymore.”

 

Barry stood and placed his hands on Oliver’s shoulders and looked him in the eye. There was a twinkle there as they looked at each other, but Barry didn’t smile. He had heard answers that he had only dreamt of hearing. “It’s okay. I… I forgive you,” Barry replied. He wasn’t expecting the soft and gentle kiss he received from Oliver, but he kissed back for a few moments  before they pulled away from each other. Maybe this could work. A proper date would be in order, but Barry knew that they could make it work.


End file.
